Drink Driving

[number8]

Am looking to settle an office argument - if somebody has been drinking, causes an accident and then leaves the scene, can that person be prosecuted for drink driving merely on the say so of his passengers, eben though by the time the person is tested he is clear? Myself and a colleague say no as their is no proof other than heresay, but another colleague says yes. (and yes, this question has been prompted by a news story over the last couple of days, but am not for a second suggesting there was drink involved - this is a purely hypothetical question). Thank you.

[andy hughes]

In my experience, the police will only accept a breath / blood sample proving alcohol over the legal limit before they prosecute. A few years ago, a boy racer wrote off my car ( I wasn't in it at the time) and was unable to stand up through alcohol. Even so, by the time he was breathalysed, he was below the limit - no insurance, so no point pursuing the case any further. the police will never act on heresay evidence - the offence may be dangerous driving or driving without due care, but without legal proof, drinking and driving will not be part of the equation.

[bernardo]

If the blood or breath test shows a level of alcohol below the legal limit, the police are allowed to calculate backwards to work out how much alcohol there would have been at the time of the accident. So it depends on how long the delay is before testing - a few hours or a few days.

[gilf]

I think leaving the scene of an accident is pretty serious so would carry a sentence comparable to drink driving, therefore it would be irrelavent which the person was charged with.

[Gef]

I think andy is correct in that there can be no proof of alcohol but as gilf says I don't think that makes it a lesser offence, in fact, possibly the opposite. How often have we heard the defence, "I was drunk at the time ". [Edited: any reference to individual cases removed. - AB Editor]

[sft42]

{...] the [...] charge of "causeing death by dangerous driving" [may be] levied ..........as far as I can gather will carry similar penatlies to manslaughter. [Edited: any reference to individual cases removed. - AB Editor]